Lasting Effect
by TintedElements
Summary: [On hold] Ed offers Truth his gate, but whoever said that Truth will let you choose your payment? Written by Saphiraice.
1. Arc I: Memories come with Changes

A/N: SaphiraIce here! So I finally started a fanfic =D Its original idea started off _really _different, and I've already changed the plot a lot of times, but I find this would be better so voila! umm... yeah as you can see it's a FMAxHP fanfic but I'll have to warn ya', I've never read the HP books and my memories of FMA is a bit foggy lol

If you have nothing important to do, which I'm quite sure you don't, because you're reading this, try one of the fanfictions at our favourite section, they will rock you're socks. :D

**Disclaimer**: I don't own HP, FMA or the poem at the starting, but I guess I own the idea of this plot...

Summary: Ed offers Truth his gate, but whoever said that Truth will let you choose your payment?

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><p>Arc I: Memories come with Changes<br>Chapter 1: Not Anymore

you are trapped in a cage..

no one sees it.. not even you..

you don't know what it's made of..

you don't even know where it came from..

but you feel it.. it's all around you..

it is full of strength

that it forbids you to move freely..

it separates you from your wisdom

and it strangles your thoughts..

you are robbed

but you don't know what was taken..

you're in a place

but you don't know where you're heading..

you don't even know how you got there..

or who has brought you there..

you know you've been through a lot

but your memories are distorted..

it is seizing you little by little..

you can't stay but you can't go..

you are trapped but no one sees it..

NOT EVEN YOU...

by Unknown

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><p><em>For as long as I can remember, I have always felt as if something important in my life has been missing...<em>

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><p>One of the caretakers at the orphanage had once again scolded Eltanin for dropping a plate onto the floor and once again she apologised quickly and cleared up the porcelain shards with a dustpan. She was only six years old.<p>

That girl had on a day almost six years ago appeared in a basket with a note in front of the orphanage. On the note stood her birth date and first name, nothing else. No one really liked her, because her stunningly golden hair and eyes frightened them. As if she were a child of the devil. Her shoulder-length hair could have passed off as blond but those eyes, they were unnatural. The other kids there always called her 'the gold-eyed freak' or the 'snake'. The latter was a pun on her name. It derived from the Arabic name of a constellation and held the meaning: the great serpent.

After lunch that girl went to the garden and sat under a small tree just as she always did. From there Eltanin enviously watched the others play. She probably knew the outcome of this, but she just couldn't help it. She was always alone and all she ever wanted was to also be in a group, play with friends and just have fun. The other kids didn't like to be watched by the likes of her and finally one of them decided to walk towards her direction. The moment she saw him she turned her head away, pretending to have been looking at something else. But it was futile, he had already seen her and she knew it. As usual the beating would soon come and none of the caretakers would take any notice. Maybe they didn't know or maybe they didn't care. Eltanin thought it was more likely to be the latter.

She didn't know the other kids' names. If something didn't interest her, she wouldn't have remembered it and that boy's name sure didn't interest her, just like all the other kids here and a whole bunch of other things. All they did was bully her the whole time. Sometimes she wondered if that was a normal thing to do, to bully the weak and strange ones. But sadly for her, she was the only odd one around here.

Just as expected he punched her in the face, but she didn't shout for help or scream from the pain, she knew it would be useless, just like the countless times she had actually done it. She briefly wondered if she had got used to the beating and used to the pain when she noticed that the punch didn't hurt so much, until he punched her again and this time it started to really hurt, but she tried not to let it show. It seemed that her lack of emotion just seemed to annoy the boy further.

"What do you think you were looking at you snake?" he punched her again, while some of the others started cheering.

Eltanin looked at him with her dull golden eyes. When had they become so dull, so lifeless? Simple, ever since she could remember. The boy hated those eyes, they were just so surreal.

"Why don't you scream, like the coward you are? Answer me you freak!" This time he grabbed her shirt and lifted her off the ground before he started punching her a few times in the face again.

_'It'll pass, just like it always does.' _she kept repeating in her mind, just like every other time.

One of the girls he was playing with started to scream when she saw blood come out of Eltanin's mouth. The bully also noticed it and for a moment panic was clear on his face, but he quickly replaced it with a smirk and kicked her with his knee in the gut before throwing her onto the ground and kicking her a few more times for good measures while laughing. The group then walked off.

She curled up and hugged her knees hoping that the pain would soon reside and cried. Oh, how she hated the holidays, where she was bullied most of the time. At least when she was in kindergarten the teacher would make sure that around the school campus no beatings would take place. Luckily it was already the last day of the holidays and tomorrow she would be able to start attending primary school. She really hoped it would be the same as kindergarten, at least concerning recess.

She didn't, or rather she couldn't blame those that didn't look at her with those deep hateful eyes. She believed they were probably just too scared to speak up, just like she was too scared to say anything about it to anyone. And so she had decided to stay polite, to stay kind to other people, at least to the best of her abilities. Maybe she was just being foolish but she really believed and hoped that one day, just maybe _one _day, her kindness would be repaid.

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><p><em>… It might have been many things, considering I have almost nothing. No parents or family, no friends, no money, no happiness...<em>

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><p>Roy Mustang, he was a police officer and one of the few people that knew of the existence of wizards and one of those of who were badly affected by the wizarding war. Roy Mustang was one of the few people who joined the Wizard Extermination Syndicate, short WES.<p>

This syndicate was filled with many people, who swore to get rid of all wizards, the wizards who took their loved ones from them, the wizards who stole their family and friends, the wizards who involved innocent people in their own selfish war for power.

Yes, this syndicate swore to clear the world of the wizarding society and those who were foolish enough to dwell in said people's practise.

Anyhow, at the age of five Roy Mustang moved from China to London because of his parents' job. Unfortunately, they were caught in a war that wasn't theirs and his parents were tortured by wizards before they were killed in front of Roy's, then, innocent eyes.

Roy was then sent to an orphanage and a day after; a certain Ms Carrow picked him up from there and raised him. Ms Carrow was a leader of the syndicate along with her brother. She and her brother themselves didn't seem to really care about the kids in the syndicate and neither do they know a lot about martial arts or weapons, and it didn't seem like they wished to know. But luckily, under the members there were quite many specialists. Roy attended school like a normal kid but at 'home' he had to train until he'd mastered the arts, though he preferred explosives.

Now as an adult, he was one of the aces of the secret organisation. The reason he worked as a police was because he didn't trust the syndicate totally. The Carrows always looked at the members strangely. Roy thought it was in a kind of disgusted way but it also seemed like they were looking at the members, as if they were just tools or puppets. Not only that, but why was an organisation that fought for justice in the dark? So he decided to do a proper job. Naturally, it also provided him with a reason for having weapons in his house.

Roy rubbed his eyes, he had just got a letter with his next target's information on it.

_'Seriously, how many people wish to delve into this horrible sorcery business?' _

His next target was a wizard who started dealing with a drug dealer, who happened to also be an informant of their group. Roy shook his head. _'What irony... A police officer and a drug dealer in the same organisation.'_No matter, there was nothing he could do about that at the moment. But it also helped a lot to catch and get rid of the wizards that had become addicts of such a horrible creation.

_'And the wizards themselves... to have fallen so low. They who have learnt to control a power so mysterious and strong have fallen to the degree of drug addicts. Disgusting.'_

His mission started at nightfall. Taking the place of the informant in a cut-off alley, Roy waited a while. It didn't take long before a man with a lamp in his hands came into sight. Like all other wizards who Roy had seen before, he was dressed normally.

_'How funny that as a kid I always thought wizards wore robes. I guess all of that was just part of the fairy tales.'_

Roy kicked the lamp out of the wizard's hand. That made the wizard automatically take a step back and then he slowly reached inside his jacket, as if he was going to take his wand out.

_'Bingo!'_

The police officer had always felt angry towards wizards, even though he felt as if what he was doing was wrong. He just couldn't help it, but to blame them on his parents' death.

Before the wizard could do anything, Roy quickly took a step forwards, successfully grabbing the other's hands with one of his own, causing something to drop onto the floor. At the same time his other hand took a knife hanging from his belt.

In a threatening voice Roy stated to the wizard at knife point: "So you _are _a wizard."

"How-" that was all the angered young man needed to hear, to definitely complete his suspicion. Roy sliced through the man's neck, causing the head to fall off the body and roll onto the floor letting blood flow freely...

In the morning some poor soul would walk by a shady looking bar with the name "The Leaky Cauldron" just to see that in the alley nearby, there lay a still body in a sea of its own blood...

The next day at the headquarters, when Roy went to report the success of his mission, though as always he couldn't get rid of the feeling that all of this was somehow indeed wrong, Ms Carrow was reading a newspaper. The headlines read:

"Mysterious death of the muggle-born wizard, Alexander Brooks!"

Roy was confused, did the people who practise magic write their own newspaper? It definitely had to be a wizard newspaper, if not everyone would know about wizards. Roy took another look at it and saw the name: 'The Daily Prophet'. He had never heard of such a newspaper before. How did the wizards make sure that it was only distributed among themselves?

_'Just where _did _she get that newspaper from? And what in the world is a _muggleborn_?'_

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><p>Today was the first day of school and Eltanin was really very glad for it. She was in the first primary class now and so far it seemed that, at least during the lessons she wouldn't get bullied. But still, she couldn't help but look from time to time around the class and feel like someone was giving her the cold stare. Because of that she couldn't concentrate during lesson, but she also wasn't really interested in the things they were learning at the moment. Not like they were learning much now anyway, it was mainly learning the other kids' names and things like that.<p>

Recess came way too fast for the blond girl, but there was something she needed to do. She needed to make sure she had enough money to live with and it wasn't like this was her first time, she had stolen before and she would do it again.

Making sure to avoid her new classmates for she didn't want to get in a fight or anything similar on the first day of school with people that she was definitely going to see every day for the next few years, she made her way into the crowd in front of the school's snack-bar. While she was walking there she had also taken note of the fact that the teachers were watching the grounds just like in kindergarten. Eltanin smiled.

Time to start pickpocketing.

Today seemed like a good day, so far Eltanin had made quite a bit of money. So she decided to dare another attempt.

And that was her mistake. The crowd had already lessened quite a bit since the starting of recess and in her haste she wasn't careful and that lead to her twisting her ankle, while running up to a boy who was probably in the fifth class. Her ankle had already been hurt due to the boy at the orphanage beating her up quite frequently during the holidays. As a result she crashed into him, but not before she managed to take his wallet and a few notes from it, then he noticed her from the push. The boy snatched his wallet back and then grabbed her by her shirt and lifted her up, staring into her eyes. He was a bit startled though, like everybody else who saw her shockingly golden eyes for the first time. One of his friends whispered something to him and then promptly he dropped her onto the floor. Forgetting the pain in her ankle she quickly stood up and ran into the schoolhouse and into the class room. Looking out of the window she saw a teacher standing near where the boy was before.

She sighed. _'He probably only let me go because of the teacher...'_

A bell rang to signify the end of recess.

_'At least I made some profit today...'_' She thought as she watched her classmates filled up the seats again.

It wasn't long before school ended for the morning. In Eltanin's opinion it just seemed to have finished way to quickly. She packed her school things into her bag as fast as she could and made her way out of the school without many problems. Now she just had to get back safely to the orphanage. She was walking down the streets just a bit away from the school, when she heard some running from behind her. The blond girl turned around just to see that the boy from recess was charging towards her. Quickly, she started to sprint into the nearest alley in the hopes of losing the boy there. But just as her luck had it, before she could go any further into the alley the boy caught up to her, forcefully turned her around and punched her in her face. He grabbed her shirt and slammed her little body against the wall.

In rage he shouted at her. "Bitch! Give me the rest of my money back!"

At that moment all she could think was: _'Am I going to die here?'_

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><p>Policeman Roy was going for his lunch break. Today he was going to Riza's to enjoy a meal with her. After the wizarding war he met Riza through the syndicate. They became very close friends and when they worked together, they seemed to be unstoppable.<p>

On his was to his friend's house, he saw how suddenly a strong gust of wind came out of an alley. In his mind there was only one explanation for such an incomprehensible event: ...Magic.

_'And in broad daylight too...'_

Without much further thought he ran to the direction of the alley.

But what Roy saw wasn't what he expected. By the time he reached it the wind had stopped a while ago. In front of him lay a young boy. His whole body was littered with fresh cuts, but the wounds were shallow. The boy was slowly getting up again. Beside the boy stood a smaller girl with a frail body leaning against a wall, who seemed badly beaten up. She looked like she was desperately clinging onto the wall for support and would fall and collapse onto the ground any moment soon.

Roy Mustang was shocked to say the least and he really didn't know what he should be thinking about the whole incident. First, the person that used magic was either one of the too kids and by the looks of it, it would have to have been the girl. Secondly, he never thought anyone would teach magic to a little kid!

The two kids apparently hadn't noticed him yet, because when the boy got up he grabbed the girl by her shirt and smashed her into the wall, which was followed by a sickening crack, while shouting some profanities. That was when Roy got out of his daze and took action. The boy was about to punch the girl, but Roy quickly took a hold of his arm. The boy was shocked; he obviously hadn't noticed the black-haired man until then.

"You, young man, are coming with me to the police station." Roy stated calmly.

"But-, she-! She used some strange magic and all of a sudden there was this strong wind and it cut me all over! Officer, please believe me!" the boy argued and then added after remembering his whole reason for being here: "And she stole my money!"

"Save your excuses."

Roy was about to turn to the girl to ask where she lived so that he could drop her back home, but suddenly she started to cry, her blank expression turning into a sad and hurt, but grateful one. And then, just like that, she collapsed.

_'Oh, boy... I better call Riza to help me.' _

Roy then immediately called Riza and asked her to come with her car.

Luckily Riza didn't live so far away and it wasn't long until she arrived. Roy asked her to bring the girl to his house and take care of her while he took the boy to the police station. Seemingly understanding the situation Riza nodded wordlessly and then proceeded to carefully bring the girl into her car and drive off. Roy didn't miss the somehow peaceful face of the girl when Riza placed her in the backseat of the car.

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><p><em>I've always wondered if somehow I'll ever get a family or friends, who I can be happy with. I guess in some ways I achieved getting some money, at least enough for me to survive for the time being. But somehow I feel like something is still missing... Something of importance and without it, I feel empty, useless. Insignificant.<em>

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><p>AN: First chapter done yay! :D First I want you, my dear readers, to know that this hopefully won't become some nonsensical fanfiction because I got the general idea planed out. But of course ideas and suggestions are always welcomed, though that doesn't mean I'll definitely use them! ;D

And secondly: criticism is wished and very appreciated!

Thirdly, to the wonderful people who want to review, could you answer the following questions? I would like to know your opinion.

1. What do you think of the syndicate?

2. What do you think Eltanin is missing?

3. I know not much happened yet, but are the characters so far in character?

That's it, thanks for reading (and if you're going to review, for reviewing!), I'll talk to you again in the next chapter! :D

SaphiraIce over and out!


	2. Chapter 2: All I've Ever Wanted

A/N: Sorry that I took long, too much schoolwork... and the load is just increasing, especially because of my end of high school project that I'll have to start working on soon. I hope the length of this chapter is enough to make up for the wait.

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><p>Arc I: Memories come with Changes<br>Chapter 2: All I've Ever Wanted

The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it.

- By Wendell Berry

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><p><em>It was raining as Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, was kneeling in front of Scar, ready to be killed. An empty broken armour was lying nearby.<em>

_"Promise me, that you won't harm my brother." Were the last words he spoke before he closed his eyes, prepared for death._

_A car appeared and stopped a little distance away. A man with black hair and a blond woman with her hair tied up stepped out of the car._

_The man raised his hands ready to snap his fingers. "Fullmetal! I won't let you die here!"_

.

.

.

Eltanin woke up from her dream to see that she was in a totally foreign room. The bedroom was neat and tidy. It wasn't very crowded by furniture; it had a bed, a cupboard, an empty bookshelf and a table. No matter how simple it looked though, it was still better than the one she occupied at the orphanage. However it felt quite creepy, because the room was so empty and the house deathly quiet. After inspecting the room, she started to wonder why exactly she was here. She didn't remember going to anybody's house, so why was she in this room? Suddenly the memories came back to her and then she noticed that awkwardly, what happened had some similarity to her dream.

_'Maybe I'm just too tired and thinking too much, but why did the people in my dream look so familiar? And that man with black hair... He looked the same as the one that saved me!'_

Trying not to think too much about it, she stood up and opened the window. The man that rescued her looked like a police officer from the way he was dressed and she definitely didn't want to be questioned by him about what she was doing there and why the boy was beating her up.

But luck wasn't on her side; Eltanin could hear voices and footsteps approaching the room. By the time the door opened she had managed to put one leg on the window sill and the other was following. It wasn't very easy to climb up the window since she was only six years old and therefore quite small. The Asian-looking man that rescued her and a blond woman with hazel eyes, who looked suspiciously like the one in her own dream, stopped at the door and looked at her strangely. After a moment of silence the man began to laugh and the woman frowned.

Eltanin sighed; she knew she couldn't escape, because she wouldn't be able to run fast enough with her short legs. With a bit of trouble she got back onto the floor. After that she sat back on the bed, straightened her back and crossed her arms.

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><p>Roy couldn't help laughing again. The little girl looked so cute, pretending to be all business-like after trying to escape from the window. But then Riza shot him a glare before she left saying she had to go back home and Roy stopped laughing. After clearing his throat he said to the kid: "My name's Roy Mustang." and then he asked: "What's your name?" It came out a bit harsher than he wanted it to.<p>

"Eltanin." Her face was blank.

"Eltanin...? Eltanin what?" He asked again, this time a bit irritated.

"Just Eltanin. I have been living in the orphanage ever since I can remember and no one seems to know my family name." Her voice was just as monotonous as before.

Roy didn't know what he should think about that; to never know one's family, but maybe that was better than the feeling of loss it brings when you actually remember them and they leave you behind.

Then he said: "Well, could you tell me which orphanage you live in? Then I could bring you back there."

First there was shock on her face, then slowly it turned into sadness and Roy couldn't help wondering what it was that he said that made her react the way she did. But he didn't have to think too long about it, because she answered his unasked question.

"That's all? You're not going to ask what happened in the alley?" Eltanin asked a bit unbelievably, her voice becoming a bit higher.

_'Ah, so that's why she was shocked at first.'_Roy thought before answering: "No, I'm not. There's no need for that since the boy admit that he was bullying you."

That wasn't the entire truth but when Roy brought him to the police station the boy just kept on complaining about how the girl supposedly stole money from him and how she was some kind of evil witch. But when Roy called Riza to ask her if the girl had any money with her, Riza told him that all she had was her school things. There was no need to worry about the witch part, Roy saw it himself, but there wasn't any need to mention that. After that, it was clear that either he was lying or he was just fantasizing and no one even thought anything of the boy's claim of her being witch. Except Roy.

Then because no one believed him he had finally just admitted that he bullied her and then his parents had to pay a fine. The money would go to Eltanin of course.

She didn't seem to entirely believe him, but then she remembered his question and said: "Must I go back? I don't want to go back..."

She seemed so sad and Roy couldn't help taking pity on her. He started to wonder if the kids in the orphanage also bully her. Maybe, he could adopt her since she seemed to be quite a decent kid...

_'What are you thinking Roy Mustang!'_ A inner voice screamed at him. _'She's a witch and one of your enemies!'_

Of course when she hadn't woken up yet he didn't fail to notice that her injuries were next to nonexistent after dealing with the troublesome boy who bullied her. No normal person could heal with that kind of speed. But she didn't have parents who could have taught magic to her and Roy hardly thought the people in the Orphanage would teach magic to the kids, so... why could she use it?

Could it be that people are born with magic? Does it flow in the blood? There were so many questions that Roy never thought of before. In the Syndicate they always said that magic had to be learned from scratch. Could it be that the syndicate had been lying all this time? Or are they right and he'd have to kill her?

_'Kill her...'_That thought stuck in his mind. Could he kill the little girl? She probably hardly knew what is wrong and what's supposed to be right.

No that was the worst thought ever. He wouldn't kill her, all she needed was some proper guiding so that she wouldn't use her magic for the wrong causes. And besides... something about that girl seemed so familiar to him. It was as if he had seen her before, or known her before. It was just like a déjà vu. But Roy was quite certain that before this, he had never seen someone with such golden eyes before. If he had, he surely would have remembered...

Roy was so deep in his thoughts that he jumped a bit when Eltanin repeated herself: "I don't want to go back..."

"Then don't." he said, before really realising what he actually did say.

But no matter, he didn't feel like it was the wrong thing to say, because just a moment after that the girl's face brightened up. Somehow in that moment Roy felt as if, what he was going to do will be the first truly right deed he has done in his life.

But Eltanin's bright smile quickly scrunched up in confusion. "What do you mean?" Obviously she didn't totally understand what he meant, but then again, he wasn't being very clear either.

"How about being adopted?"

"...What? Who _would _adopt me?" Now she seemed positively confused.

Roy sighed. "Would you want to live here?"

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why would you adopt me?"

"Why not?"

"'Cause I'm a freak?" she stated too matter-of-factly for Roy's tastes.

"That's exactly why, you're not a freak and I simply do not understand why you think so." Roy replied in a calm manner.

Immediately she answered, but doubt lined her words. "You don't think I am?"

"Yes, I don't. Why would I anyway?" Roy asked a bit confused himself.

She was in deep thought for a while but then she smiled a toothy grin and shrugged. "The orphanage I live at is..."

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><p>The ride in the car to the orphanage seemed too long to Eltanin. Not that she was excited to go there, but because it would be her last time there.<p>

She would finally be able to leave the orphanage.

Every time when adults came by, looking for a child to adopt, she had always hoped they would pick her, but for some reasons unknown, the caretakers would always discourage the people from adopting her.

But what was really preoccupying her in the moment was the thought of how life would be at Mr Mustang's. Sure she knows what the house looks like a bit, but really living there with Mr Mustang, even though he seemed like a genuinely nice person, she couldn't imagine what that would be like. Somehow when he had said that he'd adopt her, she was so happy that it was him. She just felt like she had met him somewhere before and could trust him.

When they arrived at the orphanage the head caretaker, Ms Ruby Able opened the door and was shocked to see a policeman, but when her eyes landed on Eltanin she narrowed them.

Ms Able then smiled at Mr Mustang and gestured him to follow her. "What can I do for you?" She asked in a slightly sickeningly sweet voice that Eltanin had never heard from her before, while leading him to a table.

Before Roy could answer her she added with a disappointed tone: "I hope that girl didn't cause too many problems for you. When she didn't return last night I could only wonder and worry about what kinds of trouble she's caused this time."

'_Again, she's acting like I'm not around..._' Eltanin thought and then decided to just head up to her room and pack the few things she possessed into her school bag. While walking up the stairs she heard Mr Mustang swiftly reply: "I assure you, that she hasn't caused any problems at all. In fact, I have taken a liking to this girl and wish to adopt her."

Eltanin didn't hear the rest of the conversation because the two adults were too far away, but she hoped that Ms Able wouldn't succeed in convincing Mr Mustang to adopt another child from here, because that's what the head caretaker has always done until now. After all, Mr Mustang _did _say he'd adopt _her_, right?

Once she was done packing her things, she went down with her bag on. Back at the table Mr Mustang was signing papers. Ms Able was showing him where to sign and explaining to him what it said on the papers to speed up the process. This took a while so Eltanin sat on a chair beside Mr Mustang and was glad to see that he was indeed signing the papers to adopt her.

She could hardly wait to get out of there and she was sure so could the other caretakers. But somehow everything also seemed to be happening so fast she could hardly catch up. Mr Mustang was done signing the papers and was now officially her new dad. After saying his thanks and goodbyes to Ms Able, they got in the car and drove off.

Next they went to her school and collected her things she left in her locker. Eltanin was glad she left the money she stole in there, else the police would have believed the boy. Some other things she was happy about were that she'd soon transfer into another school and that she wouldn't have to steal money anymore. After she took her school books and packed them in her bag, they went to the schools secretary to inform them that she would transfer.

When they at last reached Mr Mustangs house, now officially also hers, her new dad told her that tomorrow they'd go to the shops to buy her some new clothes. The guest room she had just slept in before they left was now her room. So she went up to her new room. She was still amazed by the size of it, because her previous room in the orphanage was so tiny, it just had enough space to fit a bed and a few drawers. The little girl took out her school books and put them neatly on the bookshelf.

After she was done unpacking her things, Mr Mustang showed her around in the house.

The events of the day had tired her out and when she dropped on her bed, she fell asleep immediately.

* * *

><p>The next day when she woke up she found that someone, probably Mustang, had put the blanket over her.<p>

_'Today we're going to go shopping.''_With that thought she went to the bathroom that was conveniently beside her room.

While she was brushing her teeth, she looked in the mirror and a thought struck her. She'd probably have to go to school again pretty soon._ 'What if I'll just get bullied again?' _She didn't want that to happen again.

After she finished brushing her teeth she just stood there in front of the mirror. Doing nothing.

Motionless.

But then she got an idea. _'If I act like a boy, less people will bully me... right?'_

Suddenly without really knowing what she was doing, her hands found a pair of scissors and before she knew it she started cutting her hair short.

When her hands stopped moving by themselves, she took a good look in the mirror again. For a moment she wondered who that boy was, that was staring back at her. Her hair was so short, she could pass off as a boy. Somehow she was proud of herself, but in her mind she could have done better, so she took the scissors again and started correcting the things that she didn't really like about the hairstyle.

After cleaning up the mess she made by cutting her hair she went down. To her surprise and maybe a bit of disappointment she didn't find her dad there, but instead it was that woman from yesterday. The one that came to her room with Mr Mustang.

The woman had a confused face at first but it was quickly replaced by a warm smile. "Hi, I'm Riza. Roy told me to go shopping with you, since he's busy with work. You're Eltanin, right?"

Slowly, she shook her head.

No. Not anymore. She was someone else.

She was a he.

Riza looked very confused. But then she seemed to have understood, because the next thing she said was: "Have you thought of a name yet?"

Eltanin looked shocked, she hadn't thought of that yet.

Riza just chuckled and said: "Well I'll leave it up to you and Roy." Before Eltanin could say anything the lady continued with a kind smile: "Luckily, you said it now, or else your newly bought clothes would have been a waste."

After they had cereals for breakfast they got into Riza's car and drove off to the mall. It turned out that Riza was a really good shopping partner and she also had good tastes. Everything she never even dreamed of having before now suddenly stood available to the little girl. The prices that normally seemed impossible to pay were now _only _'expensive'. They went to the boy's clothes section to buy clothes for Eltanin. The shopkeepers looked a bit questioningly at what the pair bought but didn't really ask anything. Eltanin really enjoyed her time shopping with the older woman. Although Eltanin didn't talk a lot this didn't seem to bother the older woman, who just continued to try to get the little girl to open up more and Eltanin also got to know Riza better.

Apparently Riza was quite the tomboy when she was younger, though she hated it when people thought that she was a guy. Roy was one of those people that had mistaken her for a guy and her first reaction was punching him in the face. Riza hadn't had an especially good day until then and when it became clear that the boy she'd just met thought she was a guy, she'd lost it. Riza told Eltanin that part with a blush on her face, she was still embarrassed about what had happened.

And before they knew it, it had become late.

When they got back, Roy still wasn't at home, which worried Eltanin, but Riza comforted her and said that it was due to his job, that his schedule was quite unpredictable and told her not to worry. After Eltanin took a shower Riza tugged Eltanin into her bed and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

Much to Riza's surprise Eltanin mumbled: "Good night, mum." just before she fell asleep.

Riza then locked the front door with the spare key Roy had lent her and drove back to her own apartment.

* * *

><p>The next day Roy took the day off in order to spend some time with his daughter. He was quite worried that Eltanin would be angry with him, because he couldn't go shopping with her and he also didn't really know if Eltanin got along with Riza.<p>

And there was the next problem.

He hadn't told Riza yet that Eltanin was a potential witch and Riza didn't particularly like wizards and witches, who Roy must agree he also didn't like. But since the encounter with Eltanin, he had a feeling that WES was definitely hiding something from them. According to Ms Carrow, people learned magic on their own free will. But say, if someone wanted to learn magic, how does that someone know where to go to learn it? And how do they know that it even exists in the first place?

Roy was so deep in his thoughts that when his daughter came down and greeted him with a good morning, he jumped from his chair.

Eltanin had to stifle a laugh at his reaction. But when Mustang narrowed his eyes and wanted to come up with a retort, he noticed that his daughter's shoulder-length hair had been cut short, and that left his mouth wide open.

When he came back to his senses he said calmly with a smirk: "I see Riza rubbed some of her childhood habits onto you." And then added: "By the way, did you sleep well?"

Eltanin stuck her tongue out at Roy, but the fact that she immediately blushed after that, told Roy that it was something she usually never did. Nevertheless she replied with: "I had cut my hair before I met Mum here in the kitchen." At the last part she quickly put her hand in front of her mouth and blushed even more.

Roy also had to blush at that part. Sure they were friends since their childhood and cared very deeply for each other, but that didn't mean that they loved each other! ...did it?

However it would be good for the little girl to have a motherly figure in her life too. So Roy guessed it actually wouldn't be so bad for Eltanin to call Riza her mother.

Roy cleared his throat and asked: "So why did you decide to cut your hair like this?"

His daughter looked onto the floor and replied: "I... I don't really know. I guess... I want to be stronger and not be bullied all the time and boys always seem so strong, that I thought it would be better for me to pretend that I'm a boy."

"Well, if that'll help you, then I won't stop you. I guess we can keep it up until you have enough confidence. So should I call you by a different name for the time being? I think it would help you if you're trying to masquerade as a boy."

At Roy's response the girl blushed and shook her head. "Umm... Riza said we should come up with a name for me together."

"It's okay if you call her your mother, you know. At least, to me it is. You'll have to ask her yourself I guess." He said with a smile. "About the name, how about Vulpeculae? It's also a name of a star, just like yours, but unlike yours it means the little fox and not the great serpent." It was the first name that came to his mind. Why? He didn't know.

She smiled at the name he had chosen for her and her nods told Roy that he picked a good name.

"Dad... I had this weird dream last night." Eltanin confessed.

"Oh, what happened in it and why did it seem weird to you?" Roy asked a bit curious himself.

"Well, I guess it actually wouldn't be so weird if it weren't for the dream I had the day you first brought me to this house." His daughter took a deep breath and continued. "That day I dreamt about a boy, who looked like he was about to die, but in the last moment some people came to save him. Those people were you and mum..."

The little girl stopped, so he said: "Go on, I'll listen to your story."

"Well, I thought that you were in the dream, because you helped me that day, but I actually hadn't seen mum yet when I had it, so it's a bit weird... But then in the one from today the boy from the other one appeared again." She paused and continued with: "It apparently took place when he was still younger. I dreamt about how happy he was living with his mum and his brother."

This was the first time Eltanin talked so much and Roy was surprised. But he had to agree that usually people didn't dream about fictional characters and their everyday lives.

Before he could say anything she took a deep breath and continued again: "The boy was young he looked, strangely enough, a lot like me with my hair cut like this." She finished while making an expression that told Roy she was deep in her thoughts.

Roy didn't know what to say to that so he asked: "Did telling it to me help you sort out your thoughts?"

"Hmm... yeah I think so. I guess the dreams really aren't anything special. Thanks for listening to me, dad!" she said with a smile.

Though she said that, Roy was still a bit worried for his daughter, so he told her that if she had any other weird dreams in the future she could always talk to him. At which she smiled and nodded.

"Okay, you little fox." He said teasingly making his daughter blush. Then he took a deep breath he needed to confirm with his daughter if she was aware that on the other day she had used magic. "I need to discuss something important..."

Before Roy could finish his daughter cut in, her voice a bit fearful: "School?"

Roy chuckled internally; he had been so preoccupied with the incident in the alley that he had forgotten about the fact that his daughter still needed to transfer to a new school.

But why did she sound so scared? "You don't want to go to school?" Roy asked bluntly.

Her answer was swift and honest. "I'm afraid of being bullied again..."

"We don't have to enroll you in a school just yet. Not much is learnt in the first year anyway and you can be home tutored if you want." He said with a shrug. "You're getting along well with Riza, right? She's a sports teacher, but doesn't have such a tight schedule, so I suppose I could ask her to teach you the things you'd learn in school for now, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

His daughter seemed satisfied with his answer so he decided to try to get back to the original conversation. "So, school wasn't actually what I wanted to talk about..." He hesitated before he finally figured out about how he'd say it. "What I wanted to ask you is if you remember what happened at the alley."

Eltanin frowned and answered: "Well I was being beaten up by the boy when suddenly this strong wind came - I never knew such strong winds could appear in alleys! - And after that I don't remember much except for seeing you at the entrance of the alley. Why?"

"Is that the truth? You did think it's strange right?"

"Yeah, I would never lie to you, dad. Do you know what might have caused it?" His daughter asked suddenly very interested.

"I have a guess."

"Can you tell me what it is?" She asked with wide eyes.

"You."

* * *

><p>AN: yeah so I thought this chappie was getting a tad bit too long so I decided that I'll chop it in half lol :P I hope again that all the characters are so far IC... and that it wasn't too much dialogue at the end for you...


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